Distinctive Religious Exploration for Children and Youth

OAKTON, VA, September  1, 2013 --  The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of
Fairfax (UUCF), located on Hunter Mill Road in Oakton, offers a rich and unique
Religious Exploration (RE) program for all children, from age 2 through high
school. The program invites an exploration of faith, ethics and spirituality
development and helps children and youth develop a Unitarian Universalist (UU)
identity,  while developing a personal
spiritual path. Registration for the RE program, which offers classes on
Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, is now open by calling 703-281-4230 or
emailing the Director of Religious Exploration, Linnea Nelson at dre@uucf.org.

Unitarian
Universalism, a liberal faith with Judeo-Christian roots, affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom
of belief and the search for advancing truth, and provides a warm, open,
supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme
witness of religion. This non-creedal approach to religion and education has
enabled UUCF to expand its adult membership by 50 percent over the past five
years. This growth also includes almost 300 children and youth. 

UUCF’s unique religious educational
programming, supported by full-time church staff and more than 100 parent
volunteers, contributed to UUCF being recently recognized by its national
association. At its annual meeting of Unitarian Universalist congregations last
year, the Unitarian Universalist Association designated UUCF as a “Breakthrough
Congregation.”

Many of UUCF’s RE classes for
elementary-age children are based on “Tapestry
of Faith,” an online curriculum that can be viewed at www.uua.org/re. Other ages experience
workshops – engaging, multifaceted lessons that mirror the worship themes for
the entire UUCF community.

Realizing the importance of
creating a society where sexuality is treated as a normal, healthy and positive
part of life, UUCF provides students with a highly praised sexuality education
program that was created in conjunction with the United Church of Christ and
based on national standards for sexuality education. The year-long Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality Education
Program is offered for 8th graders. Shorter, developmentally
appropriate segments are offered to various other ages as part of their
religious exploration classes.

For information about the
religious exploration program at UUCF, contact the Director of Religious
Exploration, Linnea Nelson (see sidebar), at phone 703-281-4230 or email dre@uucf.org.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of
Fairfax is specifically located at 2709 Hunter Mill Road in Oakton,
VA.  For additional information, please also refer to the website: http://uucf.org/.

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